The First Exploration
Once upon a time... The Decisions Bel jumped on the chance. I could leave Earth? she thought. What an opportunity! I'm ready, and I'll go. I'll leave this dump! I won't come back, either, not for good. If their plan is to colonize and inhabit, I'll join the plan. Maybe then I will become somebody. She had disliked life so far, and maybe she had trouble distinguishing between life and Earth. -- Meanwhile, Lysander was pondering. One evening he turned suddenly to Max as they emptied the dishwasher. "Max, I think I'd like to go on the expedition," Lysander said. "I've been offered a position reporting on the trip. They're looking for two more astronaut volunteers as well." "Really?" asked Maximilian, raising his eyebrows. He took a glass out of the dishwasher. "That's cool. Think I should come?" "I wouldn't leave the planet without my love, would I?" Max smiled. "Well, I'd be thrilled to go!" "Good," said Lysander. He closed the cupboard door on a plate and looked at Maximilian closely. "We'll soar through the stars, Max. We'll meet a new world and we'll come home again." "Some people are going to stay there," he pointed out. "I want to come home again, though. I want to have the adventure of a lifetime and return to tell my story. You don't object, do you?" "No; no, I don't," said Maximilian. "I'm in!" -- Thea turned over the possibility in her mind as she lay alone in bed. What stuck with her was this question: was she more needed out by Gliese or here on Earth? Where should she go to best help her fellow people and the universe? Gliese, she decided. I've done ''this; I'll try that for a while. Science needs me.'' She prepared herself to pioneer in the knowledge she knew this trip would bring, regardless of whatever she had to leave behind. -- Trevor's cell phone buzzed in his pocket. "Hey? Trevor Mauzy here." "Hi. I'm Teagan Kneller from NASA. We're looking for a guard -- a soldier -- an armed man to assist in a trip to an unexplored exoplanet that may carry intelligent life and were told you might be interested. Would you like to leave Earth and, essentially, protect a team of astronauts against any aliens they might meet?" Trevor choked a little. "Okay." The Departure The day had come. A leader, a helper, a writer, a fighter, and a friend all stood staring at each other before the door of their ship. "You know," said Maximilian, "I'm kind of terrified right now." Cymbeline rolled her eyes. "There's nothing to be scared of. You're even going straight back. Besides, plenty of people have gone to other planets. This will be Earth's ninth, remember? Now are we going to board or not?" "It's okay, Max," said Thea. "This is a big deal. We can do it, though. You'll be safe at home six months from now, and you'll be glad you went." "I know," Max said. He shrugged. "I'm just nervous." "We all are," said Lysander, "Except for Bel, because that's who she is." "I get it," guys," Max told him. "We have six minutes left to board. Come on," said Cymbeline. The group followed. Trevor followed the others onto the ship without saying a word. -- "I'm glad we live now and not two hundred years ago," Max said as they climbed into their seats. "Everybody who left Earth used to float around in their ships because they couldn't create false gravity." "I'd hate to spend three months without gravity," said Thea. "It would have been worth it, though," Lysander told them. "If we lived two hundred years ago, we would have been some of the first people ever to go to other planets. The glory would have outweighed the inconvenience." Thea scratched her chin. "We have plenty of glory as it is." "The 'glory' isn't even the point," said Cymbeline, who was obsessively checking the clock on the wall. "In any case, we live now, not two hundred years ago." Suddenly a roar began, a roar so loud that it was more an infinite presence, attacking everyone's consciousnesses, than a sound. The ship started up. A grin spread across Thea's face. "We're off." "We still have to get this thing a few hundred light-years," Cymbeline snapped, "So I'd say it's a bit too soon for the triumphant cheering." Category:Humans Category:History Category:Story